Daniel Hernandez does a remarkable job of taking us inside that day his boss, Rep. Gabby Giffords was shot, a day none of us would hope to be inside of, ever. He recalls his specific feelings and frustrations at being at the absolute center of the event, but knowing little about its outcome. And then, in an avalanche of media attention, he describes how he undertook an overwhelming 215 interviews by the day of the memorial service in Tucson. There he met President Obama and the First Lady. There his iconic media status was cemented by that hug from the President, who said to him, moments after announcing to a cheering crowd that he had just come from Gabby Giffords’ hospital bedside, where she’d opened her eyes for the first time: “And, Daniel, I’m sorry, you may deny it, but we’ve decided you are a hero, because you ran through the chaos to minister to your boss and tended to her wounds and helped keep her alive.”

Thus began the journey of a young man who became an icon for so many: a gay, Hispanic student intern who ran toward danger to save a Congresswoman shot in the line of duty and ended up sitting with the First Lady at the State of the Union

There are many, many people working to either save the Gulf of Mexico ecosystem or trying to get the images and message out about it. We all know that we cannot rely on our own government, MSM or British Petroleum to tell us the truth. The powerful cannot overcome the good. Right now it just seems that way. With photographers like Nick Zantop and Jerry Moran_Native New Orleans Photography and organizations like the American Birding Association and On Wings of Care willing to take risks and get dirty there is hope for the gulf and us.

Sen. John McCain’s office was the stage for a sit in by five members of the Phoenix-based group HERO. The activists were demanding the Arizona Senator back a repeal of the US military’s Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell policy.

Lieberman’s numbers in Connecticut are in the tank. In a head-to-head race Dick Blumenthal would beat him 58% to 30%. His approval rating with Democrats in his own state is 21/70 — he has to get with the program or face an electoral wipeout in 2012. The Ryan Grim article Klein links to says he only came in at the end of the negotiations, in time to take credit and get his face before the camera.